NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Commodores return home for senior night in their regular season finale against Arkansas Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network. Commodore fans can also tune into the game on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on WLAC 1510 AM and 98.3 FM, and online on VUCommodores.com and the VUCommodores app.
Wednesday will be senior night for senior Joe Toye and managers Thomas Shimamoto and Jared Geoghan in their final appearances at Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
- Vanderbilt dropped to 9-20 on the season and 0-16 in SEC play after falling to Texas A&M, 64-57, Saturday evening in College Station, Texas. Junior Yanni Wetzell led the Commodores with 15 points, with freshman Simisola Shittu adding 11 points and sophomore Saben Lee chipping in 10 points for Vanderbilt.
- Shittu also added 10 rebounds to notch his fifth double-double of the season and second in his last three games.
- Wetzell’s 15 points was a new SEC high for the junior from Auckland, New Zealand.
- Junior Clevon Brown tied a career high in blocks with eight.
- Aaron Nesmith was named the Co-SEC Player of the Week two weeks ago after averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals in games against Florida and Auburn. The honor is the third by a Vanderbilt freshman after Darius Garland and Simisola Shittu captured the honor earlier this season.
- Vanderbilt and Kentucky are the only two teams in the SEC that have had three different players named as Freshman of the Week. This year is also the first time the Commodores have had three different players selected as Freshman of the Week in one season.
- Lee leads the Commodores in scoring with 12.7 points per game and Shittu in rebounding with 6.9 rebounds per contest. Nesmith is the team’s leading scorer in SEC games only (14.0 points).
- Joe Toye will be the only senior honored on senior day on Wednesday. Entering Wednesday’s contest, he has played in 126 career games.
- This will be the Commodores’ second meeting with Arkansas this season. The Razorbacks won a 69-66 decision in Fayetteville, Ark. on February 3.
- This will be the 38th career meeting between the two schools and 15th played at Vanderbilt. The Commodores lead the series in games played at home against the Razorbacks, 8-6. Arkansas leads the all-time series, 25-12.
- Vanderbilt, an inaugural member of the Southeastern Conference, is in their 86th season of SEC competition. Vanderbilt has won two SEC Tournament titles (1951, 2012) and three regular season titles in 1965, 1974, and 1993. This is the 67th SEC season in Memorial Gym for the Commodores.
- The Commodores enter the game as the 302nd-most experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com.
- Shittu is the league’s freshman leading rebounder with 6.9 rebounds per game in all games. His current rebounding average is the fourth-highest by a Vanderbilt freshman in the history of the program. Nesmith’s 5.7 rebounds per game is eighth among all Commodore freshmen all time.
- Vanderbilt freshman guard Darius Garland declared for the NBA Draft on Jan. 22.
- Vanderbilt’s average height is 78.5 inches (6 feet, 5 inches) and ranks 14th nationally according to KenPom.
- The Commodores have marched to the charity-stripe 661 times this season, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Vanderbilt is fifth in the SEC with 449 free throw makes. 22.2% of the team’s points comes from free throws (24th nationally).
- Vanderbilt also ranks in the top five in the SEC in 3FG Attempts (3rd, 667).
- Individually, Lee is ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in assists per game (8th, 4.0), free throw attempts (3rd, 180) and free throws made (3rd, 126). Matt Ryan is ranked in 3FG attempts (7th, 172), while Shittu is ranked in defensive rebounds per game (8th, 5.24), free throw attempts (7th, 139), rebounds per game (9th, 6.9), and total rebounds (9th, 201).
- Lee’s 115 assists places him seventh on Vanderbilt’s single-season assist list for a sophomore.
- The Commodores signed a pair of four-star prospects in the early signing period. Austin Crowley, a 6’4 shooting guard from West Point, Miss. who attends Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, and Dylan Disu, a 6’8 power forward from Pflugerville, Texas who attends Hendrickson High School, each signed a letter of intent with the Commodores in November.
About Arkansas
Series Record: Arkansas leads 25-12
Last Meeting: Arkansas win, 69-66, on Feb. 5, 2019, in Fayetteville
Record at Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt leads 8-6
Record at Arkansas: Arkansas leads 15-3
Record at Neutral Site: Arkansas leads 4-1
Coach Drew vs. Arkansas: Coach Drew is 1-4 against Arkansas
- Arkansas enters the game with a 15-4 overall record and a 6-10 mark in SEC play after defeating Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.
- Sophomore big man Daniel Gafford leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Isaiah Joe (14.1) and Mason Jones (14.0) also average double figures.
- The Commodores lead the series in games played at Vanderbilt, 8-6.
Vanderbilt (9-20, 0-16) vs. Arkansas (15-14, 6-10)
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7:30 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Mike Morgan (pxp), Barry Booker (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 99, XM 192
Live Stats: vucommodores.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Three Point U
The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket in every game since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against Arkansas, Vanderbilt will move to 1,061 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
Freshmen Leading the Charge
The Commodores are one of only 10 programs (Duke, UNC Asheville, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Mount St. Mary’s, Rice, and UTEP) in the nation to have three separate freshman score 20 points or more in a game (Darius Garland, Aaron Nesmith, Simisola Shittu)
Commodores in 86th SEC Season
Vanderbilt is now in its 86th SEC season and is a charter member of the league. All time against current members of the conference, Vanderbilt is 716-724.
